The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1887-01-05
CHASING ANTELOPES.
WILD SPORT FOR HUNTSMEN ON THE
PLAINS OF MONTANA.
Swiftly Running Animals with the Eye
of a Hawk-The Red Mans Method of
Crawling Near the Game-Using Two
Balls,

Balls.
To hunt the antelope successfully requires
more than ordinary skill With the excep-
ton of morfntain sheep, antelope are the
most difficult game animals of approach on
| this continent bear will stand up and
actually seek fight; buffalo bull will run at
| first, but once wounded, a stand up fight to
the bitter end is the probable outcome; an
! elk can be approached and slain without ex-
ercising extraordinary precautions, and a
| deer is sometimes as dangerous and as bellig-
erent as mountain lion On the other
hand, the antelope first last and all the time
depends upon his legs for safety, and it is fair
to say that they the leetest, as they are
the most graceful of quadrupeds There is
no fun in store for the greenhoIn who at
temptS to hunt this animal without under
standing its ways and habits. Anybody can
hunt and kill bison, bear and many of
the other large game animals; but the ante
| lope demands the most skillful Of huntsmen
! to compete with its keen senses of sight and
| smell, not to speak of that other important
| adjunct, extreme heetness of foot. The
| power of scent is wonderfully acute in them,
for it seems that they can smell man" at
! 600 yards and beyond with the most astOnish-
| ing eI actness. Their tenacity of life is be-
| yond dll0onception. | have frequently seen
| antelope with one leg shot away and hanging
| by the tendons alone, Outrun and escape from
| the feetest plains ponies. Their race is not
| long one mot more than six or seven miles,
| and it is possible that an American horse
might run them down; but as a rule nothing
on the praries can catch them, and the grey
| hound is about the only four-footed beast in
existence that can be depended upon to keep
pace with and possibly Outrun them.
THE EYE Or a HAWK.
No animal in the world possesses keener
sight excepting the giraffe. In stalking ante
lope the principal point is to keep out of sight
and next to keep out of smell. Don't imagine
| because a band is a couple of miles away ap-
parently feeding end all with heads down
that none are on the lookout The chances
are ten to one that you are seen first, although
they may not move Always hunt over
broken ground and undulating prairie. If
on horseback, diSmOunt and skirt the ridge
ahead, as your horses head always comes into
view before you do and take off your hat,
which becomes visible before you yourself
can see beyond. Do all the crawling possible
Such is the red mans method, and he gen
orally bags three times as much game as any
two white men, unless the latter adopt the
same tactics. Ninety per cent of all the
game secured by Indians is shot within 300
yards. They are everlasting crawlers and
simply no good at all beyond the 800 yard
limit. On the other hand, white man
plunges ahead i'll his natural happy go lucky
fashion, scares the game, thus giving it good
send off, and then blazes away while the ami
mails are on dead run.
l have discovered many valuable pointers as
the result of long experience, and note a few
of them for the benefit of those who have
notion to try their hand AT stalking antelope.
When a band seats or sees you they run
across the wind for about go or 900 yards
and then turn and run straight up the wind.
The species are victims OF intense curiosity
and at times have walked straight into death
traps, all the while knowing and Scenting
danger, yet so unbOunded is their curiosity
to investigate strange and unusual objects
that they are unable to withstand the temp
tation to look little deeper and satisfy this
truly feminine instinct. A hunter in full
knowledge of this failing either flags them or
sticks weeds into his hat while crawling. So
long as not seen and particularly not under
stood, they will not run, but merely bound a
few steps at a time, then halt, or else run
around the strange object in circle Even
if scented, though not seen, the antelope will
want to know more about you and the object
of your visit before taking to their heels.
WHEN TO HUNT THEM.
An excellent time to hunt them is just be-
fore sunset and when about to seek cover or
a bed. Get to the leeward and between them
and the sun, when the latter is about to drop
behind the hills; then walk slowly towards
the game with as little motion as possible.
Unless scented, there is little danger of a dis
turbance OF of flight, for this particular ami
NAL, gifted with such keen eyesight, cannot
see anything that is between them and the
SUM- l have often approached to within 100
yards of a band by adopting the tactics
named, and yet they did not become alarmed
Buffalo will also pass to the windward, like
their cousins of the antelope family, but they
will stand no such foolishness as sun blind
ness. A red flannel shirt is extremely fasci-
mating to antelope; also, red handkerchief
or anything else Of a crimson hue. AS a rule
these animals browse in small bands of fifty
or sixty, and if in large numbers among the
foothills, on the open prairie or elsewhere a
close examination will discover them to be
in smaller groups or four or five
dozen, who, amid the multitude, keep closely |
herded among themselves They are neat
clean cut, handsome, and as dainty as lady
in their diet, feeding as they do on the ten
derest stalks of grass and the delightful
prairie clover. Astonishing as it may seem,
a crippled animal is, or appears to be, the |
feetest of them all, as he generally takes the
lead, the whole band following whittier he
goes.
I once made important discovery in I
hunting which [ have frequently tried on |
with marvellous success 1t is to |
load with two balls instead of one. The /
method named is of no service whatever ex-
cept at short range. At distances beyond |
200 yards and even a little less it proves |
failure; but / have found it to work like |
charm at $50 yards and under. Antelope are
such everlasting flyers that after being shot /
to death they run tremendous distance be- |
fore falling; but in the case of catching two
balls instead of one, l have never known an
antelope run more than fifty yards before
going to grass. For the Springfield breech
loader, which all my hunting trips,
besides the ordinary cartridge case which
holds the charge of powder and the conical
bullet weighing 500 grains, 1 also carry
round ball, the calibre of the gun, which l
first insert in the breech and then shove the
metal cartridge in afterwards. At 100 yards
the spread is not more than three inches, and
at $50 yards both shots are pretty apt to
catch the beast somewhere. 1t is surprising
how quickly an antelope viii come to halt
with two balls shot through him instead of
oua Fort Ko0~-I, 90 Toi-:IoclaI->hia Times